Wesley Clover Parks seeks zoning for major concert event next summer

Live Nation Canada’s Ken Craig says he’s had his eye on Wesley Clover Parks for more than two decades, convinced it has the potential to be one of the best outdoor concert sites in the country.

“I really believe this site is fabulous,” said Craig, the concert-promotion company’s vice-president of the Ottawa region. “The location is great, and success depends on location. It’s right on the corner of the 416 and the 417. You’re two hours to Montreal, 30 minutes to the Ottawa Valley or 30 minutes to the U.S.A.-Canada border — without getting off the highway.

“That’s why this site is so good. It’s so accessible to so many other metropolitan areas. I think it’s one of the best sites in Canada to do an outdoor show.”

He was the promoter behind the 2015 Shania Twain concert, the first large event to be held at the Corkstown Road equestrian facility. With more than 21,000 people in attendance, it was considered a success, despite complaints about long lines for services on site and a traffic jam to get out.

Craig feels those issues are easily solved. Part of the traffic problem, he observed, was caused by large numbers of people who started walking to their cars, which were parked off site at the Canadian Tire Centre and the former Nortel campus. Police stopped traffic, including the parking-lot shuttle buses, for the sake of pedestrians’ safety.

Now Wesley Clover Parks wants to try again. The facility is looking for the city’s approval to host another large-scale event June 29-30, 2019. As many as 25,000 people would be expected each day. The applicants also hope the event would show the site’s potential as an entertainment venue.

The 500-acre property, owned by the National Capital Commission, is leased to the Wesley Clover Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by high-tech mogul Terry Matthews. His daughter, Karen Sparks, is the park’s executive director. In an email, she said the park is “going through the process of re-zoning the site appropriately” and had no comment on future events.

“Wesley Clover Parks is working with the City of Ottawa, NCC and third-party experts to create a solid plan for events of various sizes on our site,” she wrote. “I should also mention we are not seeking a permanent theatre structure on the site, just theatre-use zoning.”

The city’s planning committee has recommended that council approve the re-zoning application, which also addresses the traffic issue. “While there were traffic concerns related to the large crowd attending a concert in 2015, this experience has provided an opportunity to refine the traffic management plan and incorporate greater controls on traffic and pedestrian movements, as well as integrate greater use of transit,” the application reads.

If approved by council Tuesday, Live Nation would be interested in promoting a two-day event next summer.

“I’m not going to do a one-day thing,” Craig said. “It’s just not feasible financially to recoup your costs on a one-day show. The expenses to do a show in the middle of a field like that are so enormous, it has to be a two-day show.”

Because the site is unserviced, the promoter is required to bring in everything from drinking water, power (including more than a dozen generators), and grey-water waters tanks to recreational vehicles to serve as dressing rooms. A stage pad also has to be constructed. As many as 1,200 people would be hired for this type of event, compared to about 400 for an arena show, Craig said.

Developing large outdoor concert venues in Eastern Canada is Craig’s specialty. The veteran Ottawa-based concert promoter brought the Rolling Stones, U2 and AC/DC to perform at New Brunswick’s Magnetic Hill site, attracting more than 70,000 people to each show. He also organized major concerts in parks in Halifax and St. John’s, N.L. And this week, he’s promoting some high-profile indoor concerts: Paul McCartney’s arena shows in Quebec City and Montreal.

So is that the calibre of artist we can hope will perform at Corkstown Road next summer?

Probably not.

“These days, the demographics for acts like the Stones, U2 and McCartney, they want a reserved seat,” Craig said. “Most of them wouldn’t even play fields in the first place.”

It’s more likely that next year’s event would be a festival, featuring a lineup of different acts each day.

“I don’t know what we would do yet,” Craig said. “I think it’s a great park for this market but for an event to be there, there has to be the zoning.”

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